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Looking for Pre/Pro with great 2 ch sound

I'm looking for advice on pre-pro's with emphasis on 2-channel and multi-channel music performance. The budget is around 1500 for a used unit, or maybe up to about 3000 for a new one.

The leading candidate so far is a used Anthem AVM-20/30. I've read great reviews on their sound quality and the older ones seem like a good bang for the buck. I'm not concerned with HDMI or every last surround sound mode. My other candidate (if I can swing it) is a Linn Unidisk SC. If I go that route than it obviously combines a great disk player with the pre-pro. Any other ideas and/or opinions?

Thanks!
bmdduck
michaelscott73
11 posts
 
How about a processor, used, under $1000...that has a 5.1 input and great 2 channel. Video isn't a requirement.
I'm thinking Aragon Soundstage...I have a Rotel amp.
Any other opinions?
friz1313's avatar
friz1313
76 posts
 
If you get a CasaNova, make sure it has DD, DTS, and most people prefer Circle Surround. Balanced outputs for L-R-C, is a very nice option too.
brutusab
14 posts
 
I think the Casanova is the way to go. 2 channel listening is awesome, although I think the processing for home theater lacks a little. For the price you can pick them up for, I do not think there is a better product for the money.
rleff
1,065 posts
 
I agree 100% with friz1313 with the Theta Casa Nova recommendation; System did not loose much when it went from a Klyne front end to the casa nova; probally due to the ability to have so much speaker adjustments (phase,crossover type,crossover freq and slope) having these selections resulted being able to custom taylor your system for its listening enviroment.
Having the circle surround option is very well worth it,very enjoyable.
bmdduck OP
99 posts
 
A little more background on this question: I have Linn Ninka speakers and I'm considering going to Linn amplifiers (Linn 5125 multichannel amp) to actively power the speakers. On other threads everyone says to pair Linn amps and speakers with Linn preamps. The problem is the Linn multichannel controllers are either really expensive or out of date (like the 5103).

Would the Theta or Proceed pair well with Linn amps? The other option is to use a pre-pro for multichannel listening and a Linn preamp for two channel with pass through for multichannel. This just seems needlessly complex. Any further thoughts?
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